Archive

Stonehenge was given to the nation in 1918. So far, almost a century later, the nation has done a remarkably bad job at looking after it.

The situation at the site is currently, as its custodians English Heritage put it, ‘severely compromised’ and as others like leading archaeologist Mike Pitts would say, ‘ an embarrassing, abominable, inexcusable mess’. For decades, plans have been put forward to improve the site and then postponed.

Two main roads not only thunder past but divide the circle of stones from the Avenue that should lead to it. The findings from Stonehenge are scattered piecemeal between some sixteen different museums and private holdings around the country. For the almost one million annual visitors drawn there, it can be a dispiriting experience, with the stones themselves fenced off and the current ‘visitor centre’ resembling a British Rail station built in the 1970s. Overall, it can be a bit like having a picnic in a car park.

Just last week the Government announced that it would no longer help finance the proposed new landscaping and visitor centre which Labour had announced last October.

On the face of it, this might seem perfectly reasonable. A saving of £10 million would result. We all know that cuts have to be made; the Government claims that Labour committed to projects that were never affordable. Read more…

Cuba Calling

See some of the films Hugh directed, now on YouTube

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Oscar A very personal account of Oscar Wilde’s life and legacy as the first of the century’s 'rock and roll stars'

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several of the 10 episodes of Dancing in the Street: A Rock and Roll History are available on Youtube, sometimes in their American version as the PBS series 'Rock and Roll': like episode 8 on Punk: Jonathan Richman, Steve Jones on how to play guitar on speed (not at speed), The Clash, John Lydon, Johnny Ramone together with Joey Ramone – very rare – and some amazing footage of Patti Smith we found in a fridge, unseen for 20 years. And Hugh went to Jamaica to have herbal tea with Bunny Wailer. Watch and envy. Not least because he drops the TV into the swimming pool in the BBC titles.

The Skull Beneath the Skin

We know the journalistic story of 9/11. We know all too well what happened on that day. But what we need to be reconnected with is the emotion. What happened to us all just in watching those horrific events unfold – to the way we think about the world, about good, about evil.
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What the story needs is a poet.
.watch the film: under 20 minutes
.see what Bloodaxe Books say: 'This is a remarkable film: do watch it....'